Hopoate getting cold feet about Eels

Daniel Lane

As Ricky Stuart weighs up whether to coach the besieged Eels or accept a lucrative contract tabled by his spiritual home, Canberra, his decision could determine if prized recruit William Hopoate plays at Parramatta next season.

Hopoate's manager, Tyran Smith, is closely monitoring the turmoil at the once-proud Eels. Another crack in the club's foundations occurred during the week when a group of football club members started a secret campaign to secure the 106 signatures required to force an extraordinary general meeting.

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Apart from being coached by Des Hasler, who led Hopoate and Manly to the premiership title in 2011, the club made a lucrative but unsuccessful bid for dual international Israel Folau while troubled fullback Ben Barba was released to play for Brisbane.

There was widespread speculation on Saturday night that Parramatta could part ways with Stuart as early as Sunday although chairman Steve Sharp, when contacted by Fairfax Media, denied rumours of a late-night board meeting or suggestions that the coach was Raiders-bound. ''He has given us no indication he wants to leave and there's no reason for us to believe he won't be seeing out the final two years of his contract,'' Sharp said. Smith is sure Hopoate, who represented NSW at State of Origin level before spending two years as a Mormon missionary in south-east Queensland, would want to honour his deal.

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However, he said his duty was to ensure the 21-year-old utility back would join a club that would allow for him to fulfil his potential.

''I'm watching what's going on at Parramatta very closely," said Smith, a former New Zealand international who now heads Sports Player Management.

"William is an extremely loyal person and while he wouldn't know much about what is happening at Parramatta [because his mission forbids him from watching television, listening to the radio or reading newspapers], he'd want to honour the deal. y opinion is if everything stays the same, William will definitely fulfil his commitments at Parramatta." When prompted, Smith conceded ''everything stays the same" means Stuart - one of the Raiders' favourite sons who played 203 games for the club and is considered the ideal man to replace recently sacked coach David Furner - remaining at the helm of Parramatta.

"If Ricky was to leave the club I would need to look at Parramatta and see whether going to the club would be in the best interest of my client," he said. "He has to be in an environment that will be good for him. If there is a lot of turmoil in a club it's hard for any team [to do well]. It also extends to people like [football manager] Peter Nolan because he was there from the start in regards to Will and the plan that we've had.

''Then there's Ciriaco Mescia, who has been flying to Queensland with me to train him. They're still part of the club and that's all a consideration … but the turmoil …, if it [worsens], things will need to be reassessed." Hopoate, who signed a two-year, $1.7 million deal with the Eels after Manly won the title two years ago, was identified by then coach Stephen Kearney as a player who would be a leader and set standards that would lift the club.

However, there are growing concerns about the potential problems of Hopoate playing for a club struggling to make any impact on the premiership except for being the NRL's soap opera. Smith said the fitness tests Parramatta had conducted on Hopoate during his sabbatical suggested he was already of first-grade standard.

"He will go into the off-season ahead of many of his teammates in that regard because he's so fresh," Smith said on Saturday.

"For any NRL club, a player of his status, his talent, for what he's already achieved and for his mental toughness and his high morals, he'd appeal to plenty of people."

Hopoate's fitness is described as excellent, but Smith wants to revisit the idea of allowing him to play a handful of rugby union matches in Japan to fine tune his co-ordination before the 2014 NRL season. "A hit of rugby in Japan would be a good thing for him," he said. "His speed and strength is good [but Japanese rugby] would allow for William to get his timing back ahead of schedule."